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Showing posts from October, 2007

LIving by the Indirect Discourse

It has been a while since I've lived life in the indirect discourse. Ministry to me, over the past several years, has been an active profession that has occurred directly in manner of speech and interaction with others. It has been a while since I've thought about the indirect discourse of our lives, the ministry that occurs whether we want it to or not. Tonight I realized, rather remembered what a testimony our daily lives are to the gospel message that we hold so dear. Whether we like it or not our lives reflect our theology and our theology creates a message that others see and observe. Some will not like this theology, it may make them uncomfortable and thus they will create space between persons, whereas others might find this theology curious and draw nearer in order to find out what makes the theology tick and if there are any loop-holes in it. Others may choose to ignore it and just maintain that relationship of regular acquaintances, whereas others may align with

They touched Jesus, but then, how did they pray?

I'm sitting in my room praying and thinking, "After the resurrection did the disciples pray to Jesus?" Just imagine this with me for a moment. You have spent the past 2 - 3 years of your life following this intriguing man around, your feet are calloused, your memory is overflowing with moments around the campfire or dinner table, and you've been challenged to completely shift your Jewish worldview. And then he is gone. Just as quick as he came, just as brief as the moment he walked the shoreline past your fishing boat and called out to you, he is gone. And you are left knowing you've met an incredible man who was more than a man -- a man who was somehow divine. Now there is no one around you analyzing deep fulfilled Christological theological concepts, but there are plenty of Greek voices and new philosophical ways of contemplating life's happenings, there are Jewish commentaries, and there are the conversations that have happened along the roadside. An

Mimesis and Christian Integrity

Last night I read this brilliant writing of E Auerbach that describes so eloquently the distinction and powerful difference between Greek mythology and the sacred writings of the Hebrew narrative. My eyes were filled with tears as I flipped the pages of this worn-torn book called the Mimesis and noted how the God of the Bible did not see a need to clarify His identity with explicit descriptions nor need to focus on the character of His followers without first noting their relationship with Him. After reading several chapters by different authors critiquing the Genesis text as only a theological writing and not having any historical substance, the writing of Auerbach came as a breath of fresh air. He put to words what I want to claim about my willingness, ability, and desire to approach the Bible as a scholar while still fully having faith in the Divine's creation of the text and the truthfulness of the story. One of my peers, who is ahead of me in the sequence of classes, com